Chinese travel regulations trim tourist numbers

Jan.
31 (BusinessDesk) – New Chinese travel regulations have
prompted a drop-off in the number of tourists coming to New
Zealand, though the local industry is expected to reap the
financial rewards from visitors getting a better experience,
according to Tourism New Zealand

Government figures show
the number of Chinese visitors coming to New Zealand for a
short stay has dropped for three straight months since the
start of October. That’s when a new Chinese travel law was
introduced to stop tour operators subsidising tour prices by
packing itineraries with selective shopping destinations.

The knock-on effect has been a 25 to 30 percent rise in
the retail price of New Zealand tours promoted in China,
Tourism NZ chief executive Kevin Bowler told BusinessDesk.

As a result Chinese tourists who do visit are staying
longer and travelling more widely in New Zealand, with the
South Island outperforming the rest of the country in terms
of Chinese visitors, Bowler said. More tours were coming to
New Zealand as a single destination, rather than as a stop
off before or after Australia, and are spending longer and
travelling more widely in the country.

“The absolute
numbers are down, but the quality of the outcome is up,”
Bowler said. “If it wasn’t for the law change that trend
would have come about, but over the next few years. This has
brought it on quickly.”

Government figures show
short-term Chinese visitor arrivals were up 51 percent in
September from the same month a year earlier. After the
introduction of the new Chinese regulation, visitor arrivals
dropped 12 percent in October, followed by a 16 percent
decline in November and an 11 percent fall in December.

Annual growth in the number of Chinese visitors was
tracking at 27 percent to 236,336 in the 12 months ended
Sept. 30, slowing to an annual gain of 16 percent to 228,928
in calendar 2013.

In 2012, the government launched NZ Inc
Opening the Doors to China as part of an effort to deepen
ties with the world’s second biggest economy. Part of the
scheme included raising Chinese tourism in New Zealand 60
percent by 2015, a goal that appears largely met with a gain
of 73 percent in short-term visitors since 2011.

“The
New Zealand Inc strategy aims to boost the number of Chinese
tourists travelling to New Zealand,” a Ministry for
Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said. “The new
Chinese regulations are a matter for the Chinese government
however, we welcome all measures to improve tourists’
experiences in New Zealand.”

The recent drop in Chinese
visitor numbers was also felt in a reduced number of people
coming on business. Government figures show the number of
people coming to do business from China fell 43 percent in
December from a year earlier, and were down an annual 18
percent.

Tourism NZ’s Bowler said China’s government
has clamped down on spending, and that’s seen a reduction
in the size of visiting delegations. Some 3,800 Chinese
government delegation visitors came to New Zealand in the
second half of last year, compared to 7,222 for the same
period the previous year, he said.

“That proportion is
down considerably. A new government regime in China has
implemented austerity measures, meaning the reduction of
public spending, so we’re seeing that in less travel,”
Bowler said.

“What you see from China, unlike in the
Western world, is leisure is quite intermingled with
business. On a trip it would be half business half leisure,
and that would be quite normal,” he said.

The Wellington-based BusinessDesk team led by former Bloomberg Asian top editor Jonathan Underhill and Qantas Award-winning journalist and commentator Pattrick Smellie provides a daily news feed for a serious business audience.

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